FITCHBURG -- Acting fire Capt. Richard Liberatore said police and firefighters were at the top of their game Sunday morning in the dramatic rescue of an elderly couple who flipped their vehicle into the Nashua River.

He added, however, that the victims are not out of the woods yet.

"Everything that could go right for us did," Liberatore said.

At 8:43 a.m., a witness phoned in that they saw a sedan drive in reverse into the Nashua River from the parking lot of Barb's Riverside Cafe on Westminster Street. The vehicle was either arriving or leaving and landed on its roof, then came to a rest upside down at a tilt.

The 80-year-old driver and her 85-year-old husband were knocked unconscious, and the vehicle filled with icy water.

Liberatore and firefighter William Vautour went into the 3-foot-deep water to right the vehicle, along with police officers Stephen McBride, Nick Bianchini, Jude Chabot and Rodney Conrad.

An off-duty officer was eating inside the restaurant and joined the group in flipping the vehicle with only their hands.

"We had some big cops with us, and the current helped," Liberatore said.

McNamara said police and firefighters coordinated everything well in the frigid water.

More firefighters arrived with more equipment, using the Jaws of Life to open the car and removing the unresponsive passengers through the driver's-side door.

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Liberatore said they cut open the windshield, but the hole was too jagged to pull the man through safely.

The names of the victims have not been released by the department, but The Boston Globe identified the driver as Maria Boudreau and her passenger as Rene Boudreau.

The two patients were given CPR before they were transported to HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster. Each regained a pulse on the way.

Acting Deputy Fire Chief Brian Murchie said the 80-year-old female passenger is in the intensive-care unit in Leominster, while the 85-year-old man was moved to UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester.

Deputy Fire Chief Brian Belliveau said it will take a few days to learn if they will make a recovery, full or otherwise.

Liberatore said everyone did their parts well, and the only thing left to do now is hope the victims recover.

Belliveau said it's possible the cold water triggered in the victims the mammalian dive reflex, which brings oxygen-rich blood to critical organs and allows mammals to survive underwater for longer periods of time.

Liberatore agreed, and said the rescue took 10 minutes, which would have been too long if the water was warm.

During the rescue, McBride received cuts and possibly a sprain to his arm, wrist and hand from broken glass or jagged metal. The off-duty officer drove him to HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster because the ambulances were focused on the life-threatening injuries.

Liberatore said one of the firefighters also cut himself on the vehicle, which had sharp edges from where it landed, and blood from both men ended up on him.

"I was just a magnet for it," he said.

He said as cold as the water was, he didn't feel it until he got out and realized his teeth were chattering.

The crash is under investigation by the Fitchburg Traffic Division and Detective Bureau.

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